Where Are They Now? Dave Scatchard

Over the past few seasons Twitter has become part of many peoples' lives. It is where they go to voice their opinions and share what they have done that day. Professional athletes are not above the use of Twitter; actually many athletes love Twitter and love giving fans some insight into the life of a professional athlete.

It was on Twitter where former Islanders fan favorite Dave Scatchard retired from the game of hockey after talking to doctors that determined it wouldn’t be safe for him to continue playing hockey because of concussions. Today, Scatchard tweets about his wife, three children, and still keeps in contact with former teammates and brothers from the NHL. According to his bio, he is an entrepreneur. (Photo Credit: DaveScatchard/Twitter)

Islanders fans should remember Scatchard for his hard-nosed play on the ice as he never thought twice about throwing the body or dropping the mitts. Scatchard did whatever it took for the team to win, while skating around in his always-recognizable number 38 jersey.

He also bears a striking resemblance to everyone’s favorite high school partier Steve Stifler, yes, no? (Photo Credit: zachisgod.com)

After coming over via a trade from the Vancouver Canucks, which saw the Islanders trade Felix Potvin to the Canucks for Scatchard, Bill Muckalt, and Kevin Weekes during the middle of the 1999-2000 season, Scatchard’s career blossomed.

It was on the island where Scatchard had the most success of his career (statistically speaking) and it was where he played in the only 17 Stanley Cup Playoff games of his career.

In both 2000-2001 and 2002-2003, Scatchard reached his career high in points with 45, and in 2002-2003 he reached his career high in goals with 27. Scatchard was also not afraid to rack up the penalty minutes with his hard play as he reached the century mark in penalty minutes in three out of his four and half seasons with the team.

After the 2004-2005 NHL lockout, Scatchard signed with the Boston Bruins where he dressed for 16 games before being shipped out west to the Phoenix Coyotes where he would spend the next season and a half. It was in Phoenix where Scatchard first missed a majority of time with a concussion during the 2006-2007 season.

He also missed a majority of time during the 2007-2008 season because of a concussion and the entirety of the 2008-2009 season because of the same concussion. (Photo Credit: tennessee.scout.com)

It wasn’t until the 2009-2010 season when Scatchard would make his return to the NHL with the Nashville Predators. His last season of professional hockey was in 2010-2011 when he spent time within the St. Louis Blues organization and split time between the Blues and their AHL affiliate, the Peoria Admirals.

My take:

So this is my third ‘Where Are They Now?’ piece and this is the third player in a row that appeared on the Islanders playoff teams of the early 2000s. Can you tell that I loved those teams yet?

Scatchard was one of the fan favorites on those teams; his hard work didn’t go unnoticed and it was saddening to see him sign away after the lockout. Scatchard was just like all the other guys on those teams, he worked hard for every goal he scored and the fans appreciated that.

After writing this I just realized how much I liked Scatchard as a player and how a player like him on the current Islanders team would do wonders for the team.